L’appel du Vide
The French are good at two things: Eating snails and making up words that we don’t have in English. Seigneur-terraces is their word for people who sit at coffee shops and take up tables for hours without spending any money. When I waited tables, we used to call them,...
The Burden of Proof
You probably know by now that I have basically eschewed politics, given the finger to both sides, and hunkered down as a spectator to what I think has become the XFL of global politics. What that allows me is the freedom to watch it without having a team, the same way...
When Pigs Fly
I’m tired. Are you tired? I feel like these last few weeks have been exhausting, and I haven’t even let myself get involved in the fray. No worries though, this is a safe space. For the moment anyway. My “job” consists of a lot day to day maintenance. Just boring...
Flag Football
Flags are symbols. Symbols take whatever meaning you give them. Don't tell me what the flag means, I have four of them hanging in my living room, flown over missions in Kyrgyzstan, Iraq, and Afghanistan. I know what it represents to me and how I feel about it, and no...
Dear Applebee’s
Dear Applebee's Grill & Bar, I went against my better judgement, but because my car is somewhat suicidal at the moment (it had a rough youth, and those things manifest as acting out later), and you had a location in walking distance of my hotel, I figured I would...
GIANT KILLERS
I’ve only been to jury duty once, I think. It was probably twenty years ago. I’ve never been back because they mail you a jury summons and I haven’t done anything other than dump my mailbox into the trash for the last I-don’t-know-how-long. I honestly don’t get...
STAGE FRIGHT
There are usually only two types of conversations that happen after I get off stage. Most people just give you a typical, “Good show” as they pass. You shake hands, sell a few books, and let that human stream trickle onward. Usually when there are stragglers, they’ve...
Which Side Are You On?
I was texting with a friend of mine yesterday about the insanity of our information pipeline. She was trying to remember the psychological term for some thing or another. I honestly can’t remember exactly what we were talking about, but it was akin to Survivor’s...
Step Off the Train
People believe different things. They believe those things because they are selfish. It's okay, you are too. We all are, in basically every decision we make. And we disagree because we want different things. There are people fighting to gain what should be basic human...